Notes from Nonviolence: Overview

I am deeply honored to be blogging from the 12th International Nonviolence Summer Institute.  This two-week training on Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation is hosted by the Center for Nonviolence & Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island.

The institute features a world-reknowned faculty of leading scholars of and activists in nonviolent movements.    The institute truly draws an international crowd - participants in this year's session represent 15 countries as well as 10 US states.

My participation in the training and implementation of nonviolence trainings at UC are thanks to a Diversity Incentive Grant awarded by the UC Diversity Council.

Flags on this map represent people who have been and are being trained at the Summer Institutes.

What will I learn over the next two, intensive weeks?  Look after the break for the Training Outcomes!

-Rebecca

I am participating in the Level I training, which has the following outcomes:

• Identify and explain several of the most common myths and facts about violence vs. nonviolence.
• Define violence and distinguish violence from nonoviolence, and non(hyphen)violence from nonviolence.
• Identify and discuss the types and levels of conflicts leading to violence, recognizing examples of each.
• Describe the philosophical thinking of King and why he was described as an eclectic and post-Renaissance thinker.
• Discuss King's Pilgrimage to Nonviolence including his schooling, his views on communism, capitalism, social role of the church, pacifism, love, and Gandhi's influence.
• Discuss King's views on civil disobedience as examined in Letter from the Birmingham Jail.
• Identify and explain the six Kingian principles of nonviolence.
• Identify and explain the six steps of Kingian nonviolence as a dynamic nonlinear process derived from real events rather than an "abstract methodology."
• Describe King's family background and his early educational experiences, and how they influenced his development and thinking.
• Review the historical context of nonviolence as a social change process including key elements of major nonviolent campaigns.
• Understand the key differences between other approaches to conflict resolution and King's approach that focuses on nonviolence and conflict reconciliation.
• Identify and explain the various types of love that King often refers to in his writings.
• Discuss and illustrate the dynamics of social conflict based on Hauser's Aggression-Conciliation model as it relates to the principles and methods of nonviolence.
• Explain the role that nonviolence can play as a third force cutting across Top-down and Bottom-up social forces to facilitate hopeful action and a win-win outcome.
• Identify two training exercises and explain how they can be used to teach the steps of nonviolence.
• Become aware of how nonviolence can be applied in various organizations and institutions, such as in educational and correctional settings.
• Become aware of how music played a critical role in nonviolence movements for civil rights and social change.
• Demonstrate an understanding of King's principle of beloved community, as it relates to respect for and sensitivity toward cultural and diversity issues.
• Demonstrate knowledge and skill as a Level I co-trainer using various presentation methods in the planning and delivery of the introductory 2-day core workshop on Kingian nonviolence.
• Develop into a life long student of nonviolence, committed to applying the knowledge and skill of nonviolence to your personal experiences and future professional endeavors.